Chapter 917: Encounter
Chapter 899 Encounter
On the plywood, Captain Petra looked into the distance with a sad and melancholic face and seemed to be in deep thought.
In the sea crawling and rolling for twenty years, he has never been so nervous. Even when he was robbed by pirates, Petra was not as nervous as he was now.
There was no way around it, who made him take on a business that he shouldn’t?
In fact, Petra also knew that there was a risk in this business. These days, night traveling is very dangerous, under normal circumstances is no one will ask for a night out of the harbor.
But there were accidents in everything, and for the sake of the pounds, Petra still didn’t mind taking the risk.
In his conscious mind, it was nothing more than smuggling a few people away with him. Petra had done similar things many times before.
Only generally, it was all about smuggling into Britain from the outside, and smuggling out still rarely happened.
For Petra, these were minor issues, as long as the money was given, everything was negotiable.
Everything went smoothly up front, and it wasn’t until these particular customers boarded the ship that Petra realized something was wrong.
After so many years at sea, Petra had seen it all. No matter how much Vittorio Emanuele III disguised himself, the aura on his body couldn’t fool anyone.
With years of experience, Petra judged at a glance that the identity of this group of people was extraordinary, definitely big shots.
The problem was that this Fulda ship, which was just an ordinary cargo ship, had absolutely no comfort to speak of.
Unless it was a time of crisis, or else the big shots, even if they were down and out, would not choose this obviously degrading way of traveling.
No one would be willing to take on this kind of business, it would mean heavenly trouble. Without waiting for Captain Petra to recoil, he was warned.
Deliver the man to Holland as agreed and double the agreed commission earnings; if anything happens on the way, the whole family goes to hell together.
Refusal was impossible, the family was being watched, and Petra could only hope to God that the road would be smooth.
……
While Petra was deep in thought, two warships were catching up from the distance, no more than 20 nautical miles away.
The experienced first mate reminded, ”Captain, something is not right. The two warships behind us seem to have their eyes on us.”
Hearing the first mate’s words, Petra went straight to the overlook room without saying a word and picked up the binoculars to look behind.
Sure enough, two warships appeared in the sky, heading towards the Forda.
Because of the distance, Petra was not yet able to tell which country’s warships they were. Still, the gradually shortening distance told Petra that the visitors were not good.
“At the current speed, in six hours at most, the warships of the two behind will catch up.
Pass the order to speed up, we must reach Holland as soon as possible. All income will be increased by half upon completion of this single mission.”
The first mate replied cheerfully, “No problem, Sir Captain.”
Everyone risked their lives to go to the sea to make a living, and all they were seeking was money. As long as the money was sufficiently given, everything was negotiable.
But Captain Petra was not so optimistic, with years of sailing experience, he could determine that the Fulda was more than a hundred nautical miles away from the nearest port in Holland.
Under normal traveling conditions, warships are not much faster than cargo ships, but the speed of warships explode the upper limit is high, if full speed, the highest can run out of cargo ships twice the speed.
Of course, these days steamships are still subject to power limitations. Although warships run fast, but once full throttle full speed ahead, afterward must usher in a major repair, and may even be scrapped.
Unless it was a very important matter, generally speaking, the navy would not be so extravagant.
……
The commotion on the ship startled Vittorio Emanuele III in his cabin.
“What’s going on, could it be that we’ve encountered pirates?”
For safety’s sake, when Vittorio Emanuele III left, he arranged for multiple cargo ships to leave the harbor together at the same time, and he just picked one on at random.
Theoretically, as long as it wasn’t exposed that night. Communication was inconvenient these days, and even if the British government had realized he was missing the next day and ordered the Royal Navy to come after him, it wouldn’t have been as fast as it was.
Without waiting for an answer, Captain Petra broke in.
“I’m terribly sorry, but there’s bad news and I have to disturb your honored guests.
The situation is very critical, two warships have caught up with us and are less than 20 nautical miles away.
I’ve ordered them to speed up, but the Fulda is just an ordinary freighter, even with power modifications, it still can’t outrun the warships.
For the sake of everyone’s lives, I would like you all to open up and talk things out so that a decision can be made.”
Hearing that the warship was catching up, Vittorio Emanuele III’s face paled and he sighed helplessly.
Thinking of the heavy responsibility he was shouldering, Vittorio Emanuele III forced himself to calm down and slowly said, “Your Excellency, Captain, there is still quite a lot of cargo on top of the Fulda, isn’t there?”
Captain Petra nodded, the cargo ship was definitely carrying cargo, there was no need to doubt it at all.
Receiving an affirmative reply, Vittorio Emanuele III: “Very well, then all goods and sundries are now given to be thrown overboard, except for keeping the necessary burning coal.
This includes bed linens and covers, personal effects, weapons and ammunition, and keep only a half-day’s share of food and water, doing everything possible to reduce weight.”
Vittorio Emanuele III’s understatement stunned Captain Petra, then exclaimed, “That’s impossible! I’ll lose my money if I lose the merchandise!”
It really wasn’t an exaggeration, with Petra’s wealth, losing the shipment would leave no choice but to go bankrupt.
Vittorio Emanuele III smiled faintly and said as if nothing had happened, “Don’t worry, all the losses will be borne by me, including the employer’s dissatisfaction will be resolved for you.
Right now, what you need to do is to throw away these unnecessary things and find a way to speed up the traveling speed and get rid of the pursuers behind you.”
Compensation?
Vittorio Emanuele III admitted to being a poor man, arguably even the poorest royal family in all of Europe.
The original rich family fortune left by his ancestors had long been tossed away because of the desire to restore the country.
In order to maintain a decent life, Vittorio Emanuele III has long been in debt. The so-called reparations were a blank check.
But no matter how broke he was, he couldn’t show his cowardice. No matter what, arrive in Holland first, whether to pay compensation or not, let’s talk about it then!
After contemplating for a few moments of effort, Captain Petra still shook his head: ”Still no, even if we discard all the cargo on board, the speed will only increase by two knots at most, we still can’t outrun the warships.
Don’t forget, warships have artillery on board, they can attack from a long distance, the small body of the Fulda can’t stand up to being tossed around.”
It didn’t matter if it was money or not, the key was that lives mattered. It wasn’t like civilized law enforcement was in vogue these days, and the navy loved nothing more than to talk with cannonballs.
Vittorio Emanuele III frowned and asked with concern, “Is the warship that came in pursuit British or French?”
Captain Petra rolled his eyes and replied in a very exaggerated tone, “Not sure yet. But we sailed from London, and the warships that came in pursuit should be British.
Have you even offended the French government?
God, I am really too unlucky! It’s simply terrible that such things can come across ……”
Vittorio Emanuele III waved his hand, “Your Excellency Captain, there is no need to be so pessimistic. If it was a British warship, they wouldn’t dare to fire their guns.
I think instead of wasting time here, you should hurry up and clear the warehouse, at least we have a better chance of escaping.
Otherwise if we all fall into the hands of the British, I will be fine, but you will be dead. Believe me, they are going to hang you.”
Regicide was not for the faint of heart, and while the throne on Vittorio Emanuele III’s head was a bit low on gold, a king was a king.
In the European political system, regicide was a felony.
Vittorio Emanuele III can be sure that the British are very dissatisfied with him running away, but then again dissatisfaction is not to the point of regicide.
The British government can not afford the charge of regicide, the Royal Navy also can not afford the charge of regicide, that is whoever did it is finished.
In contrast, the French are difficult to say. The two sides were already enemies, and Vittorio Emanuele III had no confidence in the Bonaparte dynasty’s integrity.
Moreover, Vittorio Emanuele III ran away from London, and the French, as long as they were thick-skinned enough, could have denied it and dumped it on the British.
Captain Petra’s face sank, and after a moment’s effort, “Well, you win. But Your Excellency, you’d better give me a satisfactory explanation, or we’ll all part ways.”
Compromise, this was something that could not be helped. Petra hadn’t lived long enough and wasn’t prepared to go to her death.
After contemplating for a moment’s effort, Vittorio Emanuele III slowly said, “Don’t worry, the reward afterward will definitely satisfy you.
If you perform a little more outstandingly, even sending you a knighthood is not out of the question.”
Noble titles were valuable in Europe, and equally cheap. At least right now, the Sardinian Kingdom’s knighthood was not worth much.
When he was in London, Vittorio Emanuele III sold his knighthood more than once in order to raise funds for the restoration of the kingdom.
From dukes to knights. As long as there was money, there was nothing that could not be sold.
For Vittorio Emanuele III, titles were the cheapest of assets, completely worthless until the Restoration succeeded.
Even if the restoration was successful, the gold content of the Sardinian Kingdom’s titles would be greatly diminished. After all, it was a title bought with money, don’t expect the noble world to recognize it.
Captain Petra wasn’t stupid, there were a large number of powerful nobles in Britain, but the ones who could take a knighthood as payment were, in fact, just a few exiled royals.
Coupled with the current situation, Vittorio Emanuele III’s identity had, in fact, been exposed.
Knowing that, but Captain Petra’s emotional intelligence was not low, forcibly suppressing the impulse.
This was not a good time to reveal his identity, no monarch wanted to be seen at his most downtrodden.
“No problem Your Excellency, I’ll get right on it!”
After saying that and glancing at Vittorio Emanuele III, Petra retreated.
The idea of being rich and powerful was universal in both ancient and modern times. Captain Petra had been drifting in the sea for more than twenty years, and had long since grown tired of this kind of life.
He just suffered from the lack of opportunity to transform and had to continue doing it. Now the opportunity came, even though Vittorio Emanuele III looked down and out, but he couldn’t help but be of noble birth!
Judging from the current situation, the chances of the restoration of the Sardinian Kingdom are similar to the chances of the Antifa Alliance winning the war.
Judging from past experience, Captain Petra believed that the chances of victory between the two warring parties were fifty-fifty. To defect to Vittorio Emanuele III now would be a great gamble in life.
According to reason, the mid-aged Captain Petra should not like to gamble, but the problem is that he can not rely on other powerful people ah!
The royal families and great nobles of all European countries had a bunch of retainers. Who would have enough to eat, know the roots of their own people do not use, run to reuse a guy of unknown origin?
Don’t look at the current public opinion, more and more unfavorable to the aristocratic group, but the power is still held by the nobles.
Including the most powerful capitalists, are in order to become a member of the aristocratic group and efforts, Petra naturally is no exception.
……
Watching the boxes of merchandise being thrown into the sea, Captain Petra was constantly dripping blood deep inside, and now all that was being thrown away was money.
Although Vittorio Emanuele III promised to pay for the damages, it was still unknown whether he could fulfill it.
After all, this king was too poor, and the next war of restoration would cost another ocean of money.
Even if the restoration was successful, there were still many years of misery ahead.
If you don’t defect to the past, it’s just a matter of asking for money, and the king can’t not pay his debts. But if you want to defect to the past to realize a reversal of life, Petra can’t make things difficult for the boss.
The heartache did not last long, the warship behind suddenly accelerated, 15 nautical miles, 10 nautical miles, 5 nautical miles ……
The distance between the two sides was constantly being drawn closer, the cruel reality, so that Captain Petra could no longer care about the heartache.
The first mate said in fear, “Your Excellency Captain, the British behind us have put out a flag, telling us to stop the ship to be inspected, or else they will open fire.”
That was the Royal Navy, and anyone who hangs out at sea these days knows that the one person in the world that can’t be messed with is the British Royal Navy.
In normal times, everyone who encountered it avoided it if they could, avoiding close contact as much as possible.
The reason is naturally due to the good reputation of the Royal Navy as “also a thief and an official”, even if this is a British ship, people are still worried when they encounter the Royal Navy at sea.
Especially since Captain Petra had ordered all the cargo to be discarded, the anxiety in everyone’s heart became even stronger.
Petra held back his discomfort and said, “Reply to them, this is the high seas, not under British jurisdiction, they have no right to inspect.”
The first mate said with a trembling voice, “Captain can this be done, in case they really open fire, then we will be finished.
Or else stop the ship and accept the inspection, there is nothing on board that is worth their …… time anyway.”
“They’re coming at me, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Send a semaphore to tell them to fire if they want regicide!”
The sudden sound startled the two, not knowing when, Vittorio Emanuele III appeared behind them.
Seeing Vittorio Emanuele III identifying himself, Captain Petra hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, why have you come out. It’s not safe here, you’d better go back to the cabin!”
……
(End of chapter)